On Real-Time Distributed Geographical Database Systems

Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) under the intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS) context require efficient information retrieval and updating in a dynamic environment and at different geographical scales. Some problems in ATIS can be solved based on the functionalities provided by GIS systems. However, extra requirements such as real-time response are not readily met in existing GIS systems. We investigate the use of GIS-based systems for applications in ATIS and we propose a new system architecture based on existing GIS technology and distributed computing technology. Issues on data modeling, data representation, storage and retrieval, data aggregation, and parallel processing of on-line queries in the proposed GIS-based systems are discussed.